Kingdom Hearts: Merging Realities
by Magister Ludi
Summary: What would happen if two enemies from another reality crossed over to the world of Kingdom Hearts, five years before darkness began to reign.  HIATUS: read last chapter for details.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: don't own anyone or anything from Kingdom Hearts. If I did Organization XIII would not be the bad guys.

Two champions were in the midst of an intense battle. One, a young woman in her early 30's was desperate to keep her people and their allies safe from this man who faced her. She has no idea why he attacked them in the first place and why he was so bent on killing her. All she knew was that this man must be stopped.

-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-

A young girl no more than 15 was standing in front of the haunted mansion that was by the outskirts of Twilight Town. She had long white hair that went a little past her shoulders and bright blue eyes.

_'How am I still alive?'_ she wondered. _'I saw my heart leave me, so how am I still standing here?'_

-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-

"Give it up Radiel! Your lieutenants have fallen, and your second in command has abandoned you! Surrender now and you might still have a chance to live!" she shouted. Radiel smirked. He was an old man in his 70's with shoulder length white hair, yet despite his age he was the best swords man among his people. No one could mach him.

Except for this woman.

-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-

_'I should have protested against doing the experiments! Now all of my friends and my mentor are dead!'_ About a couple of months ago, her teacher met two unusual people. She never seen them before and realized that they were from another world. From where she never figured out.

They encourage her teacher to study the heart and unlock its mysteries. They claimed that all of the secrets to everything were locked within the hearts of people. She knew it was a bad idea from the start, but she was just an apprentice and the youngest. No one listened to her.

-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-

"You underestimate me Samantha, I still have one more trick up my sleeve!" he yelled. Due to a past war, the walls of this reality were weak. About 2 months ago he and his second in command encountered this reality where a person's heart had great power. He ordered his lieutenant to stay there, and should he and his 7 other lieutenants fall; he is to use the ritual to bring them back to life.

He began to chant a spell that would not only destroy him, but hopefully kill this woman in front of him.

_'What the hell is he doing?'_

-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-

_'What am I going to do now?'_

-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-

A surge of energy filled with anger and hate emanated from him and killing him. Now that very same surge was heading straight towards her.

"Shit!"

-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-

With a sigh the girl turned around, heading towards the town.

_'Maybe someone will take pity and help me out.'_

-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-

She survived.

She never had to go that far into the transformation before, but it was just enough for her to survive. She won the battle.

She won the war.

-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-

"Are you sure this will bring your 'master' back from the dead?" a cloaked figure asked. He met this man and his master two months ago, and he still knows nothing about them. What he does know is that if he hadn't met them, he never would have started on the project involving the hearts.

"It will, now shut up and let me concentrate!"

A slow chanting began to fill the room. It was a tricky spell and it could cost him his life if he messed up. It also didn't help that he was beginning to get exhausted. After what felt like months, 8 figures finally stood before the two of them.

-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-

She stopped.

Something made her stop. She didn't know why, but she suddenly didn't want to go. In fact, she had this feeling that if she left the mansion she would be abandoning someone. Slowly turning around, she noticed a figure lying on the ground in front of the gate to the mansion.

She quickly ran towards the figure to check to see if whoever it is was alright.

_'No pulse,_' she thought sadly. Either this person was dead, or what happened to here also happened to them. She took a better look at the person lying in front of them.

It was a young girl. She couldn't have been more than 17 years old. She had soft brown hair that was just as long as her own.

Suddenly, the girl's eye opened, and she suddenly sat up. Her brown eyes were filled with confusion as she took a look at her surroundings.

_'So she also lost her heart then.'_

Finally the girl looked straight at her.

"Hello, my name is Adria," she said extending her hand to the girl in front of her. "What is yours?"

The girl took her hand, and Adria helped her up to her feet.

"My name is Samantha."

Hey, so I am writing my first story. It is going to be a long series that I intend to finish. The updates are going to be irregular, so there may be months between updates. If I end up dropping this project I will let you know. There is nothing I hate more than someone who stops writing and fail to notify their readers.

Oh, and by the way, this story starts 5 years before Birth by Sleep.


	2. The Exam

A/N: the italics represent a flash back. Also a majority of the series will follow the view point of my two OC's Samantha and Adria (and later on some other characters from the game). So if you want to see the plots for the series, then either play the game or look it up.

Oh, and I'm going to give a cookie to anyone who figures out from where these new heartless came from and what war I'm referring to (I'll give you a hint, they both come from the same game)

It was morning in the Land of Departure. Two keyblade students, Terra and Aqua, were getting ready for their Mark of Mastery exam. Their friend, Ven, another fellow keyblade student, was helping the two of them prepare. He was still too inexperienced because he started his training under Master Eraqus a couple of years ago. Master Xehanort found him and brought him to Eraqus because the boy seemed to have lost his memories.

Meanwhile, both masters were waiting for their two guests to arrive. They met them 5 years ago in a most interesting encounter.

_**Master Yen Sid contacted Masters Eraqus and Xehanort telling them that something unusual happened in the world Twilight Town, and to look for two girls in their mid to late teens.**_

"_**Why would our master be interested in two young girls?"**_

"_**I'm not sure Xehanort, but he has his reasons…"**_

_**At that point both masters heard a scream. Running in the direction of the scream they came across a clearing. In the middle of it were two teenage girls. One had white hair and blue eye and the other had brown hair and brown eyes. Surrounding them were 3 very unusual heartless. Neither one of the masters recognized that type of heartless, but they could sense that these were very powerful heartless. They had a humanoid appearance, but had purple ethereal wings. Their faces were covered with a mask, and they carried spears.**_

_**The white headed girl was hiding behind the brunette terrified. Her friend on the other hand seemed calm. In fact, it looked like she had a smirk on her face.**_

_**At that point one of the heartless charged at the two girls. Before anyone had a chance to react, the brunet summoned a sword with a metallic blue blade and blocked the attack. She then summoned another identical sword in her other hand and began to attack the three heartless in front of her.**_

_**She was incredibly skilled and graceful. She fought as though she was a master swordsman despite her age, and very quickly she slew the 3 heartless that stood before her.**_

That day they discovered that the two girls were beings called Nobodies: people whose heart was lost to darkness yet have a strong will that enables their body and soul to continue to exist. Because those two had very string wills they were able to retain human form. Because of this they both gained some unique abilities. The brunette became a very powerful telekinetic, while her friend's element was darkness (A/N: not the actual darkness, but the element. There is a difference.)

At that point a portal of darkness opened and out came two women in their early 20's wearing black cloaks. The older of the two had long brown hair tied up in a triple ponytail and brown eyes. The other had long white hair loosely tied back in a ponytail a blue eye.

"Samantha, Adria," Xehanort said, acknowledging their arrival.

"How many times am I going to have to insist that you call me Sam? We are comrades, there is no reason to be so formal," the brunette replied.

"We are old men, we prefer to be formal," Eraqus responded.

"So when is the Mark of Mastery exam supposed to take place?"

"Within the hour in the main hall. Would you like to speak to my students before then?"

"Sure, we haven't seen them in a while, and I'm sure they would love it if Sam can give them some pointers."

Sam was a master at her art and was currently teaching her friend. No one was able to beat her in a sword fight. Even the two masters had difficulty fighting her and normally got exhausted after fighting her for 10 minutes. It is still a mystery as to how she was able to get so skilled at such a young age, because Sam really didn't like to talk about her past. All they knew was that she grew up in the middle of a war that lasted over 100 years.

…That and the fact that she was a VERY stubborn patient, something they leaned from personal experience.


	3. The Problem Begins

The exam went without a hitch...

...almost.

Something happened during the first part of the exam, that left Sam concerned, and she couldn't shake the feeling that Master Xehanort's new 'apprentice' (if she could even call him that) was somehow involved. That was why she was currently walking down the corridors of the palace. She needed to find Xehanort and fast.

"Master Xehanort!"

"Ah Samantha, do what do I owe you the pleasure?"

"How many times do I have to insist you call me Sam?"

"You call me Master."

"Touché."

"So what do you need me for?"

"It is about your…apprentice, Vanitas," she replied. She never liked the young man. He had nothing but darkness in his heart, and it surprised her that he had not turned into a heartless by now, although considering his past…

"You think he sabotaged the exam don't you," he stated flatly.

"I can't help but think he is somehow linked, but I wouldn't outright say that he is responsible without any evidence."

"Well considering how accurate your instinct was in the past, shouldn't that be enough?"

"Hmpf, it would be if I could shake the feeling that someone from my own past has returned."

"Who?"

"Someone who I saw die and is likely responsible for my transformation into a Nobody." She still had no idea how it happened. One minute she is a 32 year old commander watching the enemy self destruct and an energy wave was heading towards her, the next she wakes up in an alternate reality as a 17 year old without her heart with a young 15 year old girl staring down at her. The only one she told this to was Yen Sid. She just had to tell someone this and he was the only one she could trust with the information and keep it a secret. She wanted to figure out first what had happened before she told anyone else.

"Are you absolutely sure about this?" the old keyblade master asked, interrupting her train of thought.

"In my world we have certain…magics that are capable of resurrecting people. Now before you ask, the magic that my people use cannot bring back to life someone who has been dead for several years. Of course that doesn't mean such spells do not exist in my world, but they would be too complicated for my people to use. It is much more likely that if he was brought back to life, then it was done minutes after he died."

"Could it be anyone else?" He doubted that this person from the woman's past could have possibly been brought back to life. Hades was the only one with the ability to do so, and odds are he wouldn't do so. It seemed much more likely that whoever it was just faked their death.

"I can only think of a couple of other names, but none of them are human and would have absolutely nothing to gain from this. If they are involved for some reason, then there has to be some sort of ancient prophecy involved. Also we would all be royally screwed and all hell would break loose."

"I don't think they would be that bad?" Xehanort was a bit skeptical about her claim.

"One of them is a fallen god whose return would herald the end of the world and the other two are ancient and VERY powerful dragons that were responsible for the war that I grew up in."

"Ah! Your right, the situation would indeed be quite unpleasant."

"I know which is why I only have one suspect in mind."

"You sure?"

"Well there is one other person I know of that hates me, but he wouldn't go about it like this. I would be really surprised if he managed to find a way to cross worlds, and even if he did he would not sabotage an exam."

"So this person from your past, you think he may have returned?" Xehanort wanted to get a better idea of this person. If what Sam is claiming is true there would be reason to be concerned. Only a person of considerable amount of darkness would be able to sabotage the exam like that. And aside from Vanitas, the only other people with enough darkness within their hearts were himself and Terra, according to what happened at the exam. He had to wonder if Sam suspected the two of them as well.

"Yes, he was…probably still is my greatest enemy," she mentally winced as she said that. Sam was a modest person by nature and felt like that comment made her sound a little full of herself. "Knowing him he would do something like this to get back at someone. He is subtle and won't hesitate to harm others for revenge. I would recommend avoiding him if you do encounter him, because if he finds out that we work together there is a good chance that he will target you, Master Eraqus, Terra, Aqua, and Ven."

"Sounds like a lovely man," he said with a small chuckled.

"Yeah I know."

"I'll talk to Vanitas and see if he did do something during the exam. In the mean time, I was planning on talking to Terra. He seemed discouraged that he failed."

"Tell him there is always next time, and although I understand why Master Eraqus failed him, between you and me I think he might be a little paranoid."

"How so?" this he had to hear. The woman was quite skilled at reading people and their hearts. That and the fact that her instincts were usually correct resulted in her gaining the ability upon becoming a Nobody to sense if a friend was in trouble even if they were on two different worlds. He made a mental note to ask her how she got so good at such a young age.

"Both you and Terra have a strong darkness present within your hearts. But unlike most people, it is a natural presence. The darkness within the two of you is unique to yourselves. As a result the two of you have an easier time controlling your personal darkness without the risk of falling too deep into the darkness. Of course that doesn't mean that you can use it with no risk to yourselves."

"Really?"

"Yep!"

"That is an interesting theory."

"Well I have to get going now; Master Yen Sid had something to tell me and wanted me to talk to him once the exam ended," and with that she turned and opened a portal of darkness.

"Samantha…"

"Yes?"

"Do you by chance suspect me of sabotaging the exam?" he had to ask. After all, if she suspected Vanitas, his current apprentice, then it would only be natural for her to suspect him as well.

"No, I don't. Why do you ask?"

"Because you suspect Vanitas to be involved, and I am not only his master, but as you said before I have a strong darkness within my heart."

"Hmmm."

"Just one more question."

"Yes?"

"Why?"

"Do you really need to ask that?" she replied with a soft smile before stepping into the portal and closing it.

"No, I guess not."


	4. Dissapearing Act

'_Well that was an interesting turn of events!'_ Adria mused to herself. Aqua became a master, but Terra unfortunately failed. Apparently he did not keep his darkness in check and a small portion of it got out during the Mark of Mastery exam.

She was currently walking down the halls looking for Sam before remembering that her friend had an appointment with Yen Sid and was probably already gone. It had something to do with Sam's home world. Hopefully it was good news, because according to some of the stories that her friend told her it was a beautiful world. She wished she could go see it, but sadly no one had an idea which star represented her world. As a result visiting it would be quite difficult if not impossible at this point.

The reason why Adria was looking for Sam to begin with was because she noticed the concerned look on her friends face after the incident during the exam. She knew her friend well enough to be able to read her quite well. The only time she would have that look on her face was if she suspected that something was wrong. There used to be a time where she would call Sam paranoid and looking for problems where there were none. Now she know to trust her friend when it comes things like this, because the last time she disregarder her friend's warnings she almost got killed. Now Adria found herself taking sword lessons. It was a good thing that her weapon happens to be a short sword.

"Adria, I thought you already left with your friend?" Her thoughts were suddenly disrupted by Master Eraqus.

"Ah! Didn't see your there. No I haven't left yet. I was actually looking for Sam. She left suddenly after the exam with a worried look on her face, and I was curious as to why? I just remembered that Master Yen Sid wanted to talk to her about something."

"Is she worried about how the orbs of light in the first part of the exam became infused with darkness?"

"Most likely yes. Did she by chance talk to you about this?"

"No, but I did see her talk to Xehanort. You should ask him."

"Thanks. By the way, what do you think of that?"

"About the sudden appearance of darkness within the orbs? I wouldn't be surprised if it was a coincidence. Honestly I think your friend is being a little paranoid about all of this."

"Hah! Try telling that to her," she said with a smirk gracing her features.

"But if you think about it, it does bear some merit. From what little she told us about her world, she grew up in a hostile environment. It seems as though one had to grow up quickly in order to survive. I would not be surprised if she is paranoid to some extent, for it only seems natural based off of what little information was given." Adria frowned at this. Sam was a private person by nature. She did not seem to like to talk about her past, and from what little she has told them it seems as though she had an unpleasant child hood. Also, Eraqus did have a point, even though Sam was usually right with her instinct. So far only once she was wrong about someone. Of course they did not at all give a good first impression so it wasn't her fault.

"Getting back to what we were originally talking about, have you seen Master Xehanort?"

"He said he was going to the main entrance to talk to Terra. You can probably still find him there."

"Ok, thanks!"

"Not a problem."

With that Eraqus turned and left, heading in the direction of the room where the exam was held. Meanwhile, Adria went to look for Xehanort. Hopefully he talked to Sam and knew what was bothering her. She found it very annoying whenever her friend did this. It was as though she didn't trust anyone or was afraid that someone would get hurt if she did involve them.

'_I really have to talk to her about that. One of these days she is going to get hurt, and then what will happen?'_ she mused to herself. She was really worried that Sam would one day bite off more than she could chew and that something would happen to her. That woman was a warrior by heart, so Adria was worried as to what would happen if Sam was unable to fight.

Once again her thoughts were interrupted. This time it was an alarm going off. She quickly made her way to the main room. Eraqus would fill her in as to what was going on. By the time she got there Terra and Aqua were already present. Adria could see Eraqus a little ways off, conversing with Yen Sid.

'_Sam must know then since she is there with him.' _ Eraqus began to walk towards the three of them.

"That was my dear old friend Yen Sid. As you know he is master no more, but he still keeps a close eye on the tides of light and darkness. His counsel serves as signposts on the road wielders of the keyblade must walk. All the more reason then for the concern, for he tells me the princesses of the heart are in danger."

'_Not good. I wonder if this is what he wanted to talk to Sam about?'_

"Not only from the forces of darkness as you may assume…" he continued. "but also from a new threat, one that feeds on negativity. Fledgling emotions that have taken monster form. Yen Sid calls them the 'Unversed'. As wielders of the keyblade, you are tasked with striking down any who would upset the balance of light and darkness. The Unversed are no exception. I tried to pass this news on to Master Xehanort, but my repeated attempts to reach him have failed."

If she had a heart it would have dropped down to her stomach. It left her concerned that Eraqus was unable to contact him. She hoped that the two events were unrelated.

"I doubt there is any connection, and yet…this all troubles me," Eraqus continued, mirroring her own troubled thoughts.

"Master Xehanort is gone?" Terra asked.

"So here we are. I need you two to get this situation under control. Eliminate the Unversed, and find Master Xehanort," he continued. "I have unlocked the Lanes Between. The darkness looms closer than usual within these spaces, but your armor will protect you. Samantha has already started looking for him, and I expect Adria will be joining her soon. I would recommend keeping in contact with the two of them on a regular bases."

"Lastly, remember order must be kept. You cannot tell anyone there are other worlds. Now go, and fulfill your duty."

"Yes master," the two keyblade warriors replied, and with that Adria created a portal of darkness and left to find her friend.


	5. Dwarf Woodlands

Sam still couldn't believe what she heard. The conversation with Yen Sid kept playing over and over in her mind as she sat at the top of the clock tower.

**"_What did you want to talk to me about Master Yen Sid?" she wanted to know why he wanted to talk to her privately. So far she could not come up with any logical reason._**

**_The old master gazed up from a large tome he was reading from. He took a minute to think about what he wanted to say and how he was going to say it. He was always very careful with what he said, and the reason for the meeting dealt with a sensitive issue for Sam._**

**"_Samantha, a couple of years ago after you arrived, it was brought to my attention that a new world was forming within the realm of light. A couple of weeks ago, this world in question finished forming. I sent my apprentice Mickey to find the world and gather as much information on it as possible."_**

**_Despite being a retired Keyblade Master, Yen Sid still had one more apprentice that he was training: King Mickey of Disney Castle._**

**"_Unfortunately, this new world has proven to be quite elusive for Mickey was unable to find it. Regardless, I was still able to acquire some information in regards to the nature of this world which may greatly interest you."_**

**_Heart or no heart, Sam was beginning to get nervous. She suspected that he was going to tell her that her home managed to follow her across realities._**

**'_But something like that is impossible, right? There is no way this new world is the manifestation of my former home. And even if it is, wouldn't the current year be thousands of years before my time? There is no way in the name of the six gods that it will still be 1339 __AE__.'_**

**"_Samantha, I have reason to believe that your world has been recreated. I currently have no proof that it is the same world that you grew up in, but I can say that it is your world."_**

She still thought it was a dream of some sort. There is no way in hell her world would have come into existence. She must have misheard what he said, but as she replayed the memory of the meeting she knew that was not true. She was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she did not hear a portal open up behind her.

"Hey Sam! What ya thinking about?"

The abrupt interruption from her thought startled Sam for a moment. It took her a little while to get her bearings straight before she responded to her friend.

"Just mulling over what Master Yen Sid told me. It's nothing of great importance," which was half a lie. It was very important to her, but it had little bearing for Adria.

"I'm assuming he told you about the Unversed."

"Yes, he did. I find it a little disturbing. I mean we are dealing with being made up of negative emotions!"

"Say, did you know that Master Xehanort disappeared?"

"WHAT!_?_!__?__!___?___!____?____"

"… Apparently not."

"How the HELL did that happen? When did that happen? I just talked to the man before going to see Yen Sid."

"Must have happened shortly after you talked to him. Master Eraqus tried to contact him to inform him of the situation. Unfortunatly his attempts failed."

"So in addition to destroying the Unversed and making sure that the Princesses of Heart are safe, we should also look for Master Xehanort and find out what happened to him."

"Yes, apparently. So, which world should we go to first?" Adria asked her friend.

"So far I have only seen one princess, so we should go to her world first," Sam replied. This was just getting better and better. First the Mark of Mastery exam get sabotaged, then the Unversed appear, and now Xehanort conveniently goes missing. What next, an intelligent humanoid heartless searching for the Door to Darkness, or better yet, an evil organization of Nobodies bent on submerging the worlds in darkness in an attempt to reclaim their lost hearts?

"Do you know her name by chance?" her friend asked.

"Yes, her name is Snow White," the brunette replied, opening a portal and stepping through, her friend following closely behind.

After exiting the corridor of darkness, the two Nobodies found themselves in a small clearing in the middle of a forest.

"Dam it, were lost!"

"No we're not," the brunette responded, gesturing to something in the clearing. Adria turned around and saw what it was her friend was referring to.

Not far from where they were standing was a small house. The two of them approached the house, knocking on the door hoping someone was there to give them directions. Fortunately there was someone home. However, neither of them expected one particular person to answer it.

"Hello? How can I help you? My name is Snow White."

_'Holly shit, it is the princess! What in the name of Kingdom Hearts is she doing here? Eh, at least our job just got easier.'_

"My name is Samantha, and my friend here is Adria," she quickly said. For some reason she felt nervous and couldn't figure out why. "We are travelers from faraway and we got lost in the woods."

"Oh, then why don't you come in a rest for a little bit?" the raven haired girl asked with her child like voice.

"Thank you, but unfortunately we do not have much time and we should get going soon," Adria replied. It was important that they find Xehanort as soon as possible. She also noted that her companion was beginning to get a little uneasy. Odds are that there is some danger nearby, likely in the form of Unversed.

"Oh! That is a shame," the young girl sadly said. It almost sounded as though she wanted them to stay for the night and become her friend. It concerned the two Nobodies that she was so trusting, although she is a princess of heart so it's not really that surprising.

"Well then, the quickest way out of the woods is to follow that path down there to the west. That should lead you to my stepmother's castle."

"Wait, if you are a princess, then why are you living here?" that really didn't make much sense. So far they only knew of one other princess who grew up in a similar environment, but that was because her parents were hiding her away from a witch.

"Well you see I was out in the field picking flowers to decorate the castle when suddenly these monsters came out and chased me into the forest."

_'The Unversed! They are here in this world!'_

"I got lost and scared, but then this nice young man found me and brought me here. He had the most unusual sword though. It was shaped like a key."

_'Hmmm…she must have run into Terra…'_

"I believe he said his name was Ventus…"

_'Wait, Ven is here? I though Master Eraqus didn't want him to leave the Land of Departure any time soon because of Vanitas? Oh I just knew things were going to get worse…'_

"Well thank you for your help," Sam said while still musing on this new information.

"If you are ever in the area again, please feel free to stop by."

"We will, thank you," and with that, the two women turned around and went down the path that Snow White mentioned earlier.

"Why do you think Ven left?" Adria asked, hoping her friend had a few ideas already.

"I don't know. He obviously ran away since Eraqus would not let him leave due to Vanitas…"

"But why would he run away to begin with? If it was to travel with Aqua and Terra, they would send him back for his own safety. I'm sure he knows that."

Sam just shrugged. Ever since the exam she had been getting this unpleasant feeling that they were all in danger, but she couldn't figure out for the life of her why.

Suddenly, a large group of Unversed appeared and surrounded the two Nobodies. They immediately summoned their weapons and prepared to engage the enemy. But before they had a chance to attack, five Heartless appeared.

They were the same type of Heartless that attacked the two of them 5 years ago.

"I can take care of the Unversed myself, you deal with the Heartless," she told the master swordswoman. And with that the two of them leapt into battle.

Adria quickly and gracefully cut down the Unversed before her. All of those sparing sessions and sword fighting lessons really paid. In a matter of minutes all of the Unversed were slain.

Sam's situation was different. These Heartless were smart, and fought with an almost military like precision. Adria could hear the weapons clashing, metal against metal. She turned around and saw that her friend already felled three of the five Heartless. The last two were being cautious and were circling Sam like a predator would circle its prey. She began to move forward towards her friend to assist her.

"No! Do not help me!" she quickly ordered, afraid that her friend would get hurt.

"But…"

"It's alright; I've got it already planned out."

Before any more words could be exchanged, one of the Heartless charged forward. Just before it reached Sam, she jumped over the charging Heartless and flipped around in mid air, facing it when she landed. The other Heartless happened to have been standing directly behind her, and as a result, it got slain by its fellow Heartless. Sam quickly slashed through the remaining Heartless, killing it instantly.

"…Well…that was certainly…an interesting turn of events," she said dismissing her weapon.

Adria released a breath she didn't realize she was holding, and un-summoned her own weapon. For a minute there she was afraid Sam would get hurt. She never seen the brunette loose a fight before, but heart or no hear, she was always afraid that one day her friend would get seriously hurt.

"Do you sense any more danger?" she asked, trying to distract herself from the thoughts that were coursing through her mind.

"Not at the moment, no. This world is currently safe."

"Shall we go check out another world then?" she asked, getting ready to open up a portal.

"Sure."

With that, the two Nobodies departed from this world.

* * *

><p>AN: for clarification on the date for those who figured out the answer to my contest: according to the lore and background given, that game takes place roughly around 1329 AE (I have no idea what the AE stands for, so don't ask me). Sam ends up crossing realities, 10 years later. By then, in my version, this war has already ended in 1329 AE. I have no idea what will happened once the game comes out, but for now this is my version of what happens. Regardless of what does end up happening in the game, I can already say that there will be some large differences between my version and what will be released.


	6. Castle of Dreams

The portal opened up into the middle of a courtyard and two figures stepped out. They didn't get to go very far before they heard their names called out.

"Sam! Adria!"

The two Nobodies turned around after hearing their names called, and saw Aqua running up the path towards them.

"Aqua, what a pleasant surprise," Adria said.

"Have you found Master Xehanort yet?" Sam asked the young keyblade master.

"No luck yet. What about you two?"

"We found a princess of heart, but not him."

"Oh, Ven ran away from home for some reason. Did you by chance see him?"

'So he did run away, but why?' Sam mused to herself.

"No, but we do know he was in Snow White's world. Might I ask what you are doing?"

"One of the inhabitants of this world contains a lot of darkness within her heart. I plan to stop her before she hurts anyone," the blunette replied. "I was just about to check this house to see if she lived here."

With that the three of them approached the mansion. When they got to the door, they could hear muffled voices.

"You honor our humble home m'lord," the first voice said, most likely belonging to an elderly woman.

"May I present my Daughters, Drizella and Anastasia," the voice continued.

'Ok, I can understand Anastasia, but Drizella? What kind of a name is that?'

"As I feared. There is darkness here," the keyblade warrior said with a concerned look on her face. They could all sense it, and there was a lot of darkness within that person's heart. With that, she summoned her keyblade, ready to take down this person whose heart contains such darkness.

"Wait!"

'Hmm?'

The three warriors turned around looking for the source of the voice.

"It's dangerous to fight darkness with light my dears," and with that an old elderly woman materialized before the three of them.

"Who are you?" Adria asked the new arrival.

"Cinderella's Fairy Godmother."

'At least that explains the large amount of light within her.'

"I appear to those who believe that dreams do come true," the woman continued.

"Then we are honored to be in your presence," Sam said, with a slight nod of her head.

"Why would you advise us not to fight darkness with light?" Aqua asked the fairy. She needed to know, because as a keyblade warrior, it was her duty to fight the darkness. What the Fairy Godmother seemed to be suggesting goes against this principle.

"Strong rays of sun create dark shadows," she responded. "Sadly, Lady Tremaine and both her daughters are jealous of Cinderella's charm and beauty, qualities that appear to you as 'light'. Jealousy is darkness. Light and darkness go hand in hand. You can't have one without the other."

"Then what do you recommend that we do?" the brunette Nobody asked.

"It is quite simple. One of Cinderella's friends is trying very hard to keep her light from fading. I want the three of you to join little Jaq and help him."

"We can do that."

"You'll need a bit of my magic to help Jaq, so let me know when you are ready."

"We're ready."

"Ok then, hold still," the Fairy Godmother said.

"Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo!" and with a wave of her wand, the three women were enveloped in a bright light and suddenly found themselves inside the house, only an inch tall. Once they got their bearings, the three of them noticed a mouse struggling with a key.

_'Hmm…I wonder if he is Jaq, the one that the Fairy Godmother was talking about.'_

"Are you ok?" Aqua asked the mouse, as she approached him.

"Cinderelly's step mother locked her in her room. I've gotta let her out! I've gotta save Cinderelly!" Jaq said. His accent made him very difficult to understand.

"Let us help you," Adria said, summoning her sword. Sam and Aqua followed suit.

"Oh, thank you!" Jaq said with the biggest smile on his face. When he saw Aqua's keyblade he jumped.

"Ooh! That's like Ven's! Did you ever meet Ven?"

"I'm Aqua, and this is Sam and Adria. Tell us, how do you know about Ven?"

"We're friends, good friends. Ven helped me fix Cinderelly's dress."

"Do you know where he is now?"

"He is looking for a friend, another friend."

'I bet its Terra, but why? Is he concerned about the darkness within his friend's heart?'

"I see," Aqua said sadly, upset that she just missed her friend.

"I can't understand why…"

The four of them turned to the door from where they heard the voice come from.

"It always fit perfectly before," the voice continued.

"Quite enough of this. The next young lady. Please…" a new voice said. They were running out of time. One of the two sisters tried on the glass slipper already.

"We've gotta hurry! Cinderelly's gotta try that slipper," Jaq said, worried for his friend before he quickly took off in the direction of Cinderella's room. "Come on, come on, hurry!"

Suddenly, a group of Unversed appeared, blocking Jaq's path.

_'Oh, no, they are also here!'_

"Ah! No, no, no! We've gotta hurry!"

"It's alright. Leave it to us," the keyblade warrior said.

"Jaq, don't lose that key!"

Within seconds, the three women took down all of the Unversed in the room.

'Hmpf, I'm used to more challenging opponents. These Unversed were hardly that…wow, I spent way too much time with the Norn…'

"Thanks!" Jaq said, before going into a mouse hole.

'Hey, wait a sec, couldn't Aqua have unlocked the door with her keyblade?' Sam thought as the three of them proceeded to the main hall where the girls were trying on the slipper.

"You're the only ladies here?" a man asked. He was most likely the royal advisor of the king.

"There's no one else, Your Grace," Lady Tremaine lied. Mean while, from above on the banister, three women watched the scene below them unfold.

"Come on…Hurry, Jaq!" the youngest of the three said.

"Relax Aqua, he will make it," the eldest said, reassuring the girl. Unfortunately, the Grand Duke began to leave. Before he had a chance to make it to the door, Aqua suddenly was restored to her normal size and fell of the banister and on to the floor, right in front of Lady Tremaine and her two daughters.

"Aqua!"

The exact same thing then happened to Adria, and she fell right next to Aqua. Sam began to sense the same thing happening to her, and jumped off the banister in time and land gracefully next to her two friends.

_'Hmm…that was certainly odd. I'm guessing that the Fairy Godmother restored us to normal size so that we could distract them long enough for Cinderella to get here.'_

The awkwardness was so thick, you could cut it with a knife.

"Oh…Would it…" Aqua started to say, finally breaking the silence. "Would it be alright…if I tried on the glass slipper?"

"Hmm…I meet you at the palace," the Duke said.

_'Oh, that could help us.'_

"Unfortunately, you are not the young lady the Prince is looking for."

"Well what about us?" Adria asked, referring to her and Sam.

"Who are you and what are you doing in my house?" Lady Tremaine asked as she walked towards them.

"They are probably here to rob us!" one of the daughters exclaimed. Sam wasn't so sure which one accused them.

"Mother do something!" the other demanded.

'Wow, these girls are spoiled!'

"These girls do not live here," Lady Tremaine continued. "I have only two daughters. I believe we're finished here, Your Grace."

"Regardless…They mean no harm," the man said as he walked toward the three of them. "Here you are, my dear," he said as he was about to give the slipper to Adria.

"Your Grace…Please wait. May I try it on?"

Everyone looked up to see Cinderella coming down the stairs.

"Pay no attention to her. She's just an imaginative child," Lady Tremaine said, in a quick attempt to cover up her lie.

"Madam, my orders were every maiden," the man said, upset that the woman before him lied.

"You should let her go first," Sam finally spoke, as she headed towards Cinderella.

_'Hmm…this woman is also a princess of heart…'_

"Thank you."

Cinderella sat down, waiting to try on the glass slipper. Unfortunately for almost everyone, Lady Termaine had her own plans. She stuck her foot out just enough to get the Duke to trip and drop the glass slipper.

Aqua, Sam, and Adria were far from happy.

"Oh no! What will I do?" the poor man asked to no one in particular.

Lady Termaine just had an evil smirk planted on her face as she looked at Cinderella. Cinderella, though, didn't seem worried at all, which slightly surprised Sam.

"Oh, please, don't worry," she said, reaching for a pocket in her dress. "You see, I have the other slipper," and with that, she pulled out a glass slipper identical to the one that just broke.

_'Wow, the look on Miss Termaine's face is just priceless!'_

The Duke was so estatic, that the moment he had the shoe in his hand, he started to kiss it. Adria chuckled at the display he put on.

'…Ok…I'm not going to try on that shoe.'

The slipper naturally fit Cinderella. Aqua looked up and noticed an estatic Jaq jumping around at the top of the stairs.

"A perfect fit. I must inform the Prince immediately! You will come with me, of course," he said to the princess.

"I'd be happy to."

Every one left the house, save for three very unhappy people.

"It's not fair. She's a scullery maid!" the first stepsister shouted.

"Mother! Are you just going to let them leave?" the second sister asked.

"No…Cinderella with be put in her place."

Meanwhile, in the courtyard in front of Lady Termaine's house…

_'Brrr…why did it get so cold all of a sudden?'_

"Sam, are you ok?"

"Uh…yeah…"

Suddenly, the three women heard a scream.

"What was that?"

Their question was answered when they saw the Grand Duke run up the path in their direction.

"What happened? Where is Cinderella?" Aqua asked the man as the three of them ran towards him.

"Sh-she was…attacked by a…a creature…a monster…in the forest…" he said between breaths.

'A monster? He must mean an Unversed!'

"We need to find her quickly," Sam shouted back to her companions as she took off down the path, in the direction the Duke came from.

They found Cinderella on the ground being attacked what looked like a possessed pumpkin coach. Behind it was Lady Termaine and her two daughters. The Unversed started to shoot out pumpkin bombs, but Aqua managed to get to Cinderella and protect her just in time.

A cruel smile graced Lady Termaine's lips. "This is what happens when you go against my wishes!" the woman shouted.

At that exact moment, one of the bombs landed right on top of the three of them, killing them instantly.

"The darkness in their hearts overtook them," Aqua said to no one in particular.

_'Hmm, I was going to go with the exploding pumpkin landing on them'_

Cinderella quickly ran away to safety, allowing the three of them to safely take on the Unversed. Unfortunately, just before they had a chance to attack, six Heatless appeared in front of them.

They were the same type that attacked the two Nobodies earlier.

"What are they?" Aqua asked. She has never seen these Heatless before.

"I'll tell you what they are after we get rid of them. For now, you two focus on the Unversed while I'll deal with these heartless," Sam said, and with that she drew the attention of the Heartless away from that of the two companions.

After getting the Heartless a safe distance away from her friends, Sam turned around and got ready to fight them. She wasn't fond of the idea of have to face six of this type of Heartless alone, but she was afraid that Adria and Aqua would get hurt if they tried to help.

Suddenly, two Nobodies appeared right in front of her. They were lesser Nobodies, because they lacked a human appearance. The fact that they appeared in front of her didn't surprise her nearly as much as their physical form. These nobodies had a black body and a long black tail. The front of the body looked like it was made out of lava. In one hand, they had a sword equipped, and the other hand there was a shield. She got so distracted by these two new Nobodies, that she almost didn't see one of the Heartless lunge at her.

Very quickly, with the help of her Nobodies, she made quick work of the Heartless before her.

"Sam!"

Upon hearing her name being called, Sam turned around and saw Adria and Aqua running down the path towards her. They must have already destroyed the Unversed.

"You were going to tell…what the hell are those?" the white haired Nobody asked her friend.

"These are the lesser Nobodies that Yen Sid told us about years ago, or they are at least one type of lesser Nobody. They are…they are called Destroyers."

"Huh?"

"There is a race of creatures that are the servants of an ancient and powerful dragon in my home world that share the same physical appearance as these Nobodies. They are called Destroyers."

"What about the Heartless? Does the same thing apply to them?" the blunette asked her.

"Yes. These Heartless seem to be based off of a demon race from my world known as Margonites."

"And who do they follow?"

"The fallen god Abbadon."

"Um…wow…"

"The fact that we encountered these Heartless as well as the Unversed twice on two separate worlds concerns me. We need to get going and check the other worlds."

"You guys go on then," Aqua said. "I'll make sure that Cinderella's alright and gets to the palace safely."

"Be careful Aqua," the brunette said. She was really concerned with what was going on.

"Will do."

Aqua watched as the two Nobodies opened up a portal and left this world before she headed down the path back to the late Lady Termaine's house.

* * *

><p>AN: Here are the links of the creatures the Heartless and Nobodies are based off of:<p>

Margonite: wiki. guildwars .com/ wiki/ File: Margonite Paragon. jpg

Destroyer: wiki. guildwars .com/ wiki/ File:Destroyer_of_ Sinew. jpg

(for some reason FF wont let me post the full url, so there are spaces within the provided url)


	7. Enchanted Dominion

'_Well this is odd…'_

The two Nobodies found themselves in the middle of a throne room. It was not the best place to appear, because most people would panic if two strangers suddenly appeared out of thin air.

Everyone present was asleep…

…in their seats…

…in the middle of the day…

"This…is bizarre," Adria said.

"Must be magic."

"Is there really any other explanation?" she asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Good point. Now the next question is why are they all asleep? What is this spell supposed to do…"

Sam trailed off, looking around the room. She noticed the decorations and realized that they were going to have some celebration of some sort. Due to her job as a Somebody, she spent quite a bit of time around nobility and royalty (she REALLY loathed having to attend those formal events and was REALLY glad if she found another well known hero at one of those gatherings) and recognized the decorations for when a union was to be announced among royalty. In this case, it seemed to be a union between two kingdoms rather than a noble marrying the heir to the throne.

"Should we split up?"

"Hm?" Sam was lost in thought and didn't hear her friend. She was trying to figure out where the prince and princess were. So far no one present struck her as royalty.

"I asked if we should split up," her white haired friend repeated. "This castle is big; if we split up we can cover more ground in less time."

"Good idea. I'll look upstairs and you can look down here," Sam said as she left to look for the stairs.

The castle was huge, so it took her half an hour before she finally found the stairs. When she got to the top of the steps, she immediately started to look for the royal chambers. In instances like these, the rooms of the King and Queen as well as the room of the heir usually held the answer. The King's chamber held no answer to this mystery. The princess's room, however, seemed to answer some questions while creating more. The room itself was a regular bedroom with a canopy bed, a full length mirror with gold trimming, and a large ornate wardrobe made out of oak. What Sam found interesting, though, was that there was a young woman in her early 20's asleep in the bed. She had long blond hair and was wearing a beautiful blue dress. In her hands was a single red rose. What drew Sam to the woman was her heart…or lack thereof.

'_Ok, obviously this is the result of a curse placed upon her by some witch. Now the next question is why…and…what happened to her heart?' _

With a sigh, Sam turned around and went downstairs to meet up with her friend. They wouldn't find any answers here. She couldn't get over the fact that that woman's heart was gone. Why would anyone steal a person's heart LITTERALY?

…unless said person was a Princess of Heart…

DAMMIT! They were too late and the poor girl had her heart stolen. Most likely it was by whoever was controlling the Unversed and was responsible for Master Xehanort's disappearance. Again her thoughts drifted back to Vanitas. That guy's heart was filled with nothing but darkness. There was absolutely no trace of light. She just KNEW that he was somehow involved with what was going on. Unfortunately she knew WAY too little about what was going on. More questions were being asked than answered.

"Sam?"

Again, she was so deep in thought that she did not notice her white haired friend. She was too concerned with what was going on and had a strong urge to solve this mystery as soon as possible.

"Yes?" the brunette responded as she turned around to face Adria.

"Find anything that may explain what is going on?"

"Yes and no. I found a princess asleep in one of the rooms upstairs. I'm willing to bet that the curse was originally placed on her and that it somehow affected everyone else."

"Why?"

The only response Sam could give was a shrug. They had no idea what was going on, and Sam hated when she found herself in situations such as these. It made her feel vulnerable and exposed.

Adria sensed her friend's discomfort, so she concluded that she would make their stay on this world as short as possible.

"Well, obviously there is nothing in here, so there is no reason to stay. Should we move on to the next world, or look somewhere else in this world?"

Again the brunette was lost in thought and failed to hear her friend.

"Sam!"

"Hmmm? Oh sorry, did you say something?" Adria sighed at her friend's response. She could easily tell that something was agitating her friend. She never gets like this unless worried.

"You know what, how about this. I'll stay here and look for anything else and you head back to Eraqus," the white haired Nobody said.

"Ok, but before I go, you should know that the princess upstairs has lost her heart, but I see no evidence that a Heartless was responsible."

"But what would anyone gain from taking somebody's hea…oh…you think that she might be…"

"Possibly, but without a heart I can't confirm it," Sam said dejectedly.

Adria sighed again. She knew how her friend hated knowing so little. It always distracted her, and the brunette would be unable to let the subject drop until she found the answer. In the rare chance she was able to beat her friend in a duel, it was usually because of something like this. She was afraid that Sam would get hurt if they encountered those Heartless again.

"Sam…"

"Yeah?"

"Report back to Master Eraqus, and I'll see if I can figure out what is going on."

"Ok," Sam sounded really distracted. Adria watched with a frown on her face as her friend entered the portal and left. She could tell that it would be a while before things got better.

* * *

><p>AN: due to some problems, thoughts from now on will be in both single quotes and Italics<p> 


	8. Return

Something was wrong…

…very wrong…

She couldn't remember how many times she had heard that cliché in films or books, but she was thinking it right now.

'_It's quiet here…too quiet…'_

She immediately went into the castle, and the first room that she found herself in was the room where the exam was held. Aside from the white walls and the three throne-like chairs in the back of the room there was nothing.

Absolutely no sign of Master Eraqus…

A lot of people say that Nobodies do not and cannot feel because they lack hearts. If that is true, then why did sheer panic grasp at her very being? She couldn't explain it, but right there and then she knew that what happened to Master Xehanort had also happened to Master Eraqus. There was no way it could be a coincidence. Someone managed to take down two Keyblade masters.

They had a very powerful and very dangerous enemy…

…and were in serious trouble…

In a blind panic she searched all of the rooms in the castle desperately hoping that she was wrong and that Eraqus was somewhere nearby. Sam searched the rooms more than once, just in case she just missed him. By the time she finally stopped tearing through the castle, she must have searched at least it five times over. Sam almost gave up hope until she remembered the court yard and training grounds. She hadn't yet been in either of those two areas. There was still a chance that Eraqus was in either of those two locations.

Sam charged straight to the training grounds since they were closer to her current location. When she got there all she saw were the gold training rings hanging lazily in the wind on their chains.

'_Ok, don't panic, there is still one other place to check…'_

She ran to the courtyard that was just past the training grounds, but he wasn't there either. Master Eraqus was nowhere in the castle.

'_What was that?'_

Sam turned around, looking behind her. She swore that she saw something shimmering in her peripheral vision. Seeing nothing in the surrounding area, she dismissed it as an illusion.

'_I should leave and talk to Yen Sid about what just happened. If I'm lucky he may be able to answer some of my questions.'_

Just before the Nobody opened up a portal, she again saw something shimmer in the air before her. Slowly, it began to take a form.

**Meanwhile…**

Adria wasn't happy.

In fact, she was very pissed.

She managed to find the answer to quite a few questions they had. There was a witch, Maleficent, in this world that placed a curse of sorts on the princess that Sam found. Apparently, she was not invited to the princess's christening 16 years ago, and that pissed her off enough to place a curse on the princess so that on her 16th birthday Aurora, the princess, would prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and die. Fortunately, there were some fairies present and were able to change the curse so that she would just fall asleep as stay asleep until, surprise surprise, she received a "true-love's first kiss". Adria knew all of this because she ran into the witch herself (who seemed at first very willing to answer her questions). As clichéd as that sounded, odds were that it was the truth.

Maleficent was also responsible for the theft of Aurora's heart. She claimed that Terra aided her in this, but Adria could tell the woman was lying. First off, she could sense the darkness within the woman, and wouldn't be surprised if she was capable of manipulating the darkness in other people's hearts to get them to do her biding. Second, although there was a significant amount of darkness within Terra's heart, there was also a good amount of light in his heart. Therefore Terra wouldn't willingly do so. Because of that, Adria totally dismissed Maleficent's claim.

What concerned her was that this woman knew about the princesses of heart and that they were somehow linked to the greatest heart of them all…

…Kingdom Hearts…

Adria knew little about Kingdom Hearts other than the fact that it was the heart of all worlds and that it most likely held the key for the two Nobodies to regain their hearts.

Adria pressed the woman into explaining how she knew all of this stuff. She shouldn't know anything about other worlds. The only people allowed with this information were the Keyblade warriors. She and Sam were a unique case, partially because they have the ability to travel to other worlds with little risk to their well being but mostly because of what they were. Had the situation been different, they would have been ignorant of this information.

Unfortunately, the only response Adria was able to get was that some enigmatic man in dark robes gave Maleficent this information, which was far from helpful if it was the truth. Irritated, she was about to force more answers out of the witch before a heart flying towards Princess Aurora's castle caught their attention. Adria was willing to bet one of the Keyblade warriors was present in this world and responsible for what they saw.

At that point Maleficent decided to use the distraction to teleport to her castle, mumbling something about intruders. The white haired Nobody was about to give chase, but was prevented doing so by a group of Unversed that decided to spawn right there and then. This time none of the Heartless were present. Although she managed to dispatch them quickly, she lost Maleficent.

Which is why, despite the fact she had no heart, Adria was oh so very pissed. Not only were there Unversed on this world as well, BUT SHE LOST THEIR ONLY LEAD ON WHO WAS BEHIND ALL OF THIS!

'_Considering how I feel right now, I can guarantee that you don't need a heart to feel emotions,'_ she fumed to herself.

At this point the best thing she could think of was to return to the Land of Departure, meet up with Eraqus and Sam, and tell them what she found.

The last thing she expected upon arriving was to see her friend limping and holding her side bleeding.

She quickly rushed to Sam's side and cast curaga, healing all of her friend's injuries.

"Samantha, what happened?" Adria said, anxiously. She never called Sam by her full name unless worried. Right now she had a good reason. Her friend was in a fight and got hurt badly. Someone almost beat Sam in a fight, something that never happened before.

"Someone else was here…" Sam began…

_**Sam saw something shimmer in the air before her and take form. A hooded person materialized before her, wearing a black cloak identical to hers. The hood was up, so she had no idea who this person was, but based off of their build, she guessed that they were male.**_

_**Suddenly, without any provocation, the man summoned a pair of ethereal blades and got into the most unorthodox fighting stance Sam had ever seen. It kind of reminded her of the unorthodox way that Ven would wield his Keyblade. The blades appear to be made out of light blue energy and had black handles attaching the hilt to the blade. The hilts seemed to be made out of the same material as the blades.**_

_**In response to the man's actions, she summoned Veritas. If she had to defend herself she would.**_

_**Before she had a chance to react, the enigmatic man attacked and struck her with a near fatal combo.**_

'_**Shit! This man is stronger than anyone I've encountered before.'**_

_**Sam just had enough time to pull out and drink a Hi-Potion before she found herself doing a series of back flips in an attempt to avoid the Unknown's attacks. Every once in a while she found an opening to attack, but she only had enough time to do her fast, weak combos instead of her more powerful, yet slower ones.**_

_**At one point, near the end of the battle, the Unknown cast some sort of spell just before Sam finished one of her attack combos. She was just barely aware of what happened during the duration of that spell. Sam was frozen in place while time seemed to rewind. The location of her opponent changed, though not by much, and the damaged he just received seemed to have been undone.**_

_**When the spell ended, Sam stumbled a little due to suddenly being unfrozen and able to move again, resulting in her guard going down briefly. That gave the man enough time to land a powerful combo on Sam, crippling her. Fortunately, she was able to get out of the way before he had a chance to attack again, but she had no potions left to heal herself with.**_

_**Sam kept dodging until an opening presented its self. This time she used a more powerful attack, and seemingly ended the fight.**_

_**Gasping for breath, she looked around for any sign of the man, but it seemed that whoever he was just vanished into thin air. Sam wasn't going to let her guard down again, she knew the man had to be somewhere near by: no one that powerful would just give up that easily.**_

_**Suddenly, she saw a shimmer in front of her, and saw the man half materialized in front of her. He looked as if he didn't take any damage from their fight. The two of them stared at each other for a couple of seconds before the man turned around and vanished, leaving Sam alone in the courtyard.**_

"…and that was it," Sam finished.

Adria just sat there, staring at her friend trying to process what happened. She was trying to get over the fact that someone almost killed Sam in a sword fight.

"Do you…do you think they are responsible for what is going on?" she finally asked after sitting there in silence for a while.

"I really have no idea. That person was completely unreadable, and not just because I couldn't see their face. I couldn't even tell if that person was a Nobody or just some very powerful person. They MIGHT be linked to what has been happening on the worlds, or they just felt like fighting me for no real reason than because they could," Sam answered. "On another note, we should report to Yen Sid immediately and alert him to the fact that Eraqus vanished as well."

"Wait, what?_!_"

"Master Eraqus isn't here, and I can't shake the feeling that he was also abducted."

"Oh joy!" the white haired Nobody said exasperated, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"We should go now. The faster we report this the sooner we can start searching for him," the brunette said.

Adria didn't respond. Instead she opened up a portal to Yen Sid's world.

Helping her friend up, the two of them entered the newly formed portal and left the world.

* * *

><p>AN: Also the names of her swords are Latin for truth, and the reason they are named as such is because of the God she worships, Kormir the Goddess of Truth. Artwork for both swords (as well as Adria's sword, Tenebra [which is Latin for night]) can be found on my DA account.


	9. Arrival in Radiant Garden

Their talk with Yen Sid proved to be somewhat informative.

Yen Sid knew already of Master Eraqus' disappearance (how he knew, the two Nobodies would never be able figure out). He had been trying to locate Masters Xehanort and Eraqus, but had been unable to do so. For the two of them to be hidden that well, a powerful, dark presence had to be involved. Fortunately, he believed he had found the world the two Masters were hidden in: Radiant Garden. That world was filled with light, and Yen Sid sensed an unusually large amount of darkness. Odds are, the mastermind behind this current crisis was currently hiding on that world, and most likely, that very same darkness was hiding Xehanort and Eraqus from Yen Sid.

Also, Mickey decided to pull the same stunt Ven did and ran off to help fight the Unversed against his master's wishes, but that was the least of their concerns for the moment.

And that's why two Nobodies found themselves in what must be the town center of this world. There were various shops and apartments in the area, and people going about doing their daily routine. Since neither one of them have been to this world before, they had no idea where to start. As a result, they found themselves wandering aimlessly about, hoping that they would recognize what they were looking for. At one point two teens, a red head and a bluenette, almost ran into Sam and Adria. They seemed to be in a rush for some reason

Adria was so distracted admiring the world that she didn't see the man walking towards them, who was equally distracted by what he was reading. This resulted in a collision that knocked her to the ground.

"Owww…," she moaned while rubbing her head.

"I'm so sorry, are you ok?" a deep, rich voice asked as a hand entered her view. Adria looked up to see the owner of the hand. The man wore a white lab coat with loose sleeves that was part way zipped down. Underneath it, he wore a gray vest over-top with a white collar shirt. He also had a purple ascot tied around his neck. He had long silver hair that reached to about mid back, with some of it falling over his shoulders and long bangs framing the side of his face. His hair style reminded her a little of Terra's. The man also had tan skin and soft brown eyes, and she guessed that the he was only a couple of years older than her and Sam.

"Uh…yeah…I…I'm fine," Adria said in a slightly nervous tone while taking the man's hand. She felt her face get warm as the man helped her up.

"You are not from around here are you?" the man said with a soft smile while leaning forward a little to meet her face. He happened to be a couple of inches taller than her, and he had yet to let go of her hand.

Adria was beginning to find it increasingly difficult to speak, let alone think. She felt a blush beginning to form and tried to calm down.

As a Somebody, Sam spent a lot of time around people thanks to her job. As a result, she got fairly good at reading body language, which was why she was able to tell almost all the time if someone was lying to her. Right now, she could tell that her friend was getting nervous, and, being the good friend she was, came to the rescue. If it were not for the fact that they were in a desperate situation, Sam would have snuck off and left the two of them alone. She just KNEW her friend had developed an instant crush on the man

"No, we're not," Sam said, answering the man's question. "I'm Samantha, and my friend here is Adria."

"I'm Xemnas," the man said, still staring and Adria, who at this point was praying to any God that might exist that her entire face wasn't red and that she wouldn't embarrass herself in front of him.

"We're kind of lost, do you think you could give us a quick tour or a map of this place?" Sam continued. She had three reasons for asking this question, and only one of them was related to their current quest.

"I would love to," Xemnas said, finally looking away from Adria and letting go of her hand, who at that point quietly released a breath she had been holding.

For the next ten minutes Xemnas spent most of the time talking to Adria getting to know her better as they walk down the cobblestone path towards the castle. Adria was trying her best not to get flustered and nervous. Apparently not having a heart didn't help. This time Sam DIDN'T help her friend.

Walking ahead a little, Sam opted to observe her surroundings, hoping to find any hint of the darkness they should be looking for. Surprisingly, there was no evidence of any darkness. All she saw were more apartments and houses, and occasionally a shop or a restaurant. Also, the only people of interest that inhabited this world were so far a mage with a long white beard and a big pointy blue hat (he reminded her a little of Yen Sid) and a blond mechanic, and those two had too much light in their hearts. She thought that in a world filled with light, it would be easier to spot darkness. Apparently the culprit was good at hiding their tracks.

"So Xemnas, which of these homes is yours?" Adria asked, hoping to avoid answering more questions. She was afraid that he would ask something personal, and considering she was a Nobody, she was afraid of scaring him off. She had no idea why the thought scared her.

"I, um, live in the castle," he answered, sounding a little nervous.

"Really?"

"Yeah! I am one of the six apprentices of Ansem the Wise, the ruler of Radiant Garden."

"May I ask why he has apprentices?" Sam asked. She was listening to the conversation and was curious why a ruler would have apprentices. Such a thing never happened on her world.

"Master Ansem is a scientist, so he is constantly working on experiments," Xemnas replied.

"Ah, I see."

"What is he currently working on?" Adria asked. Her Somebody was a scientist as well, or at least apprenticed to one. She still worked on experiments for fun.

"We are just starting a new experiment," he started. "We plan to study the heart to better understand darkness so that we can protect ourselves from it."

Both Nobodies stopped walking when they heard that. They both knew what the end result of that would be.

Xemnas noticed that his two companions stopped, so he turned around to face them. He didn't expect them to react like that.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"We need to talk to your ruler!"

"Now!"

A/N: Yes, I have Xemnas alive. For those of you who are going to complain or going to ask questions as to how this is possible I have two words for you: alternate realities. That should explain everything if you are familiar with the theory.


	10. New allies, Old enemies

Xemnas led Sam and Adria to the front entrance of the castle where they saw two guards and another scientist conversing.

Sam guessed that the scientist was also an apprentice, because he wore the exact same outfit as Xemnas. The man had platinum blond hair that was probably just a bit longer than Xemnas', and his face was framed by two long bangs. She estimated his age to be around 23. As they got closer, she noticed that the man had bright green eyes.

The two guards wore the same uniform: a grey tunic with white cuffs and a red heart on the chest. There were blue hearts on the cuffs of both of their gloves. The first guard carried an axe sword and was slightly taller than his two companions. He had strong features, with a square chin, straight nose, and sharp cheekbones. He also had blue eyes and auburn colored hair that was slicked back into rather odd, messy spikes. The other guard had a lance with silver edges, a blue head, and a handle that alternated from violet to silver. He had broad sideburns, thick eyebrows, and violet eyes. His hair was black and worn in long dreadlocks, which were tied back into a low ponytail save for one. If she had to guess, she would say that the two men were about 24. Sam wondered if they were also apprentices or just guards.

The one with the axe sword was the first to notice them and approached the group.

"Who are your two companions?" he asked looking at the two women with some suspicion.

"This is Samantha and Adria, and they apparently have very important information in regards to our current experiment, Aeleus," Xemnas replied.

"You told them?" Aeleus asked, slightly annoyed that his friend told two strangers information that was probably best kept private.

"What was I supposed to do, lie? Besides one of them is also a scientist, so I figured that if they were interested, then with the Master's permission they could help."

"Hmmm." Aeleus studied the two Nobodies carefully, like he was analyzing the result of an experiment. "I've never seen the two of you before."

"We're not from around here. In fact we live quite far away," Sam answered, but she didn't plan on explaining that they are from another world anytime soon.

"Really?" and with that his features relaxed and he looked sort of intrigued.

"Yeah…" Sam replied, slightly confused by his reaction. She thought he would become a little sterner and maybe even more apprehensive. She had to wonder if the inhabitants of this castle were somehow aware of other worlds. But even if they were, she would still expect the opposite reaction. Or maybe that was just her. After all, she did grow up in the middle of a very nasty war…

"Xemnas! Have you seen Ienzo?" a voice shouted, interrupting her train of thought.

"No, I haven't, Even. Aren't you supposed to be keeping an eye on him?" Xemnas responded.

"I was, but he seems to have gotten better at sneaking off. I blame Braig for that," the blond, Even apparently, replied.

The other guard was staring at the two women with some suspicion.

"Who are…"

"I'm Samantha, and my friend here is Adria. Xemnas told us about the project you were working on, and we have some experience in that field…well Adria does, I just know the basics and considering how little information there is on the subject there isn't that much we do know anyways. _Aaaaand now I'm ranting and going off on a tangent_. Anyhow, we have very important information in regards to the subject that we have to warn your ruler about. And no, we are not from around here. In fact we live far away, which is why you don't recognize us," Sam said, cutting off the man and effectively answering all of his questions.

The two men just stared at her.

"You told them?" the guard said flatly. It wasn't even a question. Xemnas didn't bother responding.

"My friend here is Dilan," Even said, gesturing to the guard next to him. "You already know my name thanks to Xemnas, and I assume Aeleus already introduced himself. So you and your friend have information on hearts?"

"Yep!"

"Even…" Dilan started to protest.

"Look they have knowledge in a field we know little about, what's the harm in asking them for help?" the blond asked.

Seeing that he was alone in this issue, Dilan sighed and stepped aside, allowing Sam and Adria access to the castle. Xemnas was the first to enter, leading the way to their Master's chambers, with the two Nobodies following close behind.

"At least they will be safer inside," the lancer mumbled to his two companions, still not happy with the whole situation. He was still thinking of the chaos that had happened recently. A lot of hostile creatures started appearing in the town attacking the inhabitants without bias. It wasn't safe roaming out on the street any more. Unfortunately for him, Sam overheard him.

Adria was fighting to suppress her chuckles as Sam backed out the door way and turned to face the poor guard. She cocked out her hip and rested a hand on it, raising an eyebrow at the same time. She was clearly not amused by the comment.

"Would you care to repeat that?"

The man knew that he somehow got himself into trouble, and his companions were more interested in seeing how this scene would unfold rather than helping him out.

"Uh…I just said that the…um…two of you would be safer inside," Dilan said nervous of the lady in front of him.

Adria had to feel sorry for the man. Sam could be quite intimidating without even trying. It sort of made her wonder what kind of life the woman led.

"Might I ask why?" the brunette asked, still in the same stance as before.

"Well…you see…" he started, trying to find the right words that wouldn't land him in trouble with the woman, "there are monsters lurking the streets lately, and well it isn't that safe to be out in the open. I was…just…eh…looking out for the two of you!"

"So you think we can't protect ourselves," she said flatly.

"Uh…no, I'm just concerned that…you may get overwhelmed and hurt…"

At that exact point a lone Unversed conveniently appeared just a few feet from the group.

Before anyone had a chance to react, a sphere of shimmering, purple, telekinetic energy obliterated the thing leaving nothing more than a small, smoldering crater behind.

Adria laughed at their reactions. Xemnas, Even, Dilan, and Aeleus were staring at the spot with their mouths hanging open. Sam was still in the same pose as before, staring at Dilan with her right arm stretched out in the direction of where the Unversed was. _She took it out without even looking!_

The men kept shifting their gaze between Sam and the crater, trying to figure out what just happened.

Dilan kept opening and closing his mouth, as though he was about to say something but couldn't find the right words. Eventually he just gave up trying and hung his head in defeat.

"Come on Sam, leave the poor man alone, he just met you," Adria said in Dilan's defense as she began to drag her friend away by the arm, ignoring the glare she was receiving. "And to answer any questions that you guys may have, my friend here is a very powerful telekinetic warrior. Because of that, where some people would be touched by another's concern for their wellbeing, she is much more likely going to see it as an insult. It's just how she thinks. Also that creature was called an Unversed, and they come in all different shapes and sizes."

"If she was here five minutes ago, then she would have taken care of that creature instead of that kid," Aeleus said, Dilan nodding in agreement.

Because Adria was still holding onto the brunette's elbow, she suddenly found herself wrenched backwards and nearly lost her balance.

"Come again?" Sam asked, this time with curiosity.

"Er, there was a giant, um what did you call it…ah yes, Unversed floating around five minutes prior to your arrival. It took off in that direction," he said, pointing in the direction the two of them came from.

Unfortunately for Adria, her friend was strong and as a result, she lost her grip when Sam took off, and promptly found herself on the ground.

"Sam!"

"I'll be ok! See you in a few minutes!"

"SAMANTHA!"

Said person ignored her and disappeared from their sight.

Groaning with frustration, Adria got up and promptly turned to the four very confused men.

"I'm really sorry about my friend. She has a habit of running of towards danger. I kind of think it was because she grew up during what was apparently a very nasty war. As a result, I believe that she thinks that anyone who wasn't present during that time is incapable of protecting themselves properly from danger. Or she just can't help but protect others." She chuckled nervously after that, kind of afraid that Sam made a bad first impression.

"Do you still want to talk to…" Xemnas started to say, after being silent during the entire conflict.

"Yes, I do. The information I have is VERY important, and I need to tell him immediately," Adria said with a sigh.

Xemnas simply nodded, leading the woman to his leader's chambers.

-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-

Sam was rushing towards town when she saw something out of the corner of her eye.

She turned around and saw Terra being led by another guard (Braig maybe? She didn't know how many apprentices the man had). The man's uniform was identical to the ones Aeleus and Dilan wore, except it was baggier, and he also wore a red scarf that was frayed slightly at the ends. He seemed to have a pair of twin arrow guns strapped to his waist. She couldn't make out much of the man other than the fact that he had black, shoulder-length hair that was slicked back, and she estimated the man's age to be 26.

Losing interest in the Unversed the guards mentioned (they saw it like 5 min ago, and since there was a keyblade warrior present…) Sam instead decided to follow the two of them.

The man led Terra to another part of the castle through a set of doors. Sam followed them through the doors, but remained at the top of the stairs that were just behind it out of sight. She couldn't explain it, but she felt like she had to remain hidden, that very bad something would happen if she made her presence known.

She looked around the corner at the two men. Terra was looking around worriedly as he approached the edge of a large, semi-circular platform. The other man appeared to be slightly confused as to what was going on.

"Hey, kid, you ok?" the man asked as he approached Terra, who was leaning against the railing and looking over the edge.

Terra didn't respond, most likely lost in thought. Instead he turned around, looked up, and…

"Master Xehanort! Master Eraqus!_!_" There above them, bound to a rather large, vertical support beam with a chain were the two missing keyblade masters. Sam couldn't really tell from the distance, but they appeared to be unharmed.

"So you finally arrived. I was beginning to get bored," a smug voice said off to the right. Terra's gaze snapped towards the foot of the stairs. It was there he found the culprit leaning against the wall.

He was wearing a black and red organic-looking bodysuit. He also had a silver helmet that was covered with dark glass hiding their face from view. It took Sam a couple of seconds before she realized that she recognized the outfit and realized who it was.

It was Vanitas.

'_Wait, when did he get here, and how did he arrive without me noticing?'_

As Sam was looking at the two masters from her hiding place at the top of the stairs, she suddenly remembered what she was capable of doing with her telekinetic abilities.

"What are you doing?" Terra demanded, his keyblade Ends of the Earth summoned as Vanitas approached. The guard had his twin arrow guns drawn, ready in case of a fight.

"Wouldn't you like to know," he retorted, his voice filled with contempt.

"I would answer him, it the polite thing to do," a familiar voice interrupted.

Vanitas turned around to see the two formerly restrained masters walking towards the three of them.

"Whu…buh…HOW!_?_!_?_!_?_!_?_" the dark keyblade warrior stuttered out.

A sharp whistle attracted his attention. At the top of the stairs stood Sam, the chain hanging idly in her hands. A smug look was plastered on her face.

"Looking for this?" she innocently asked, twirling the chain in her hands.

Vanitas continued to stare at her (in disbelief? She had no idea since he always wore that helmet).

"So Vanitas," Master Xehanort continued and said person's gaze shifted back to him, "would you care to explain what is going on and who it is you serve?"

"GHAAA!"

The three keyblade solders and the guard turned to find Sam painfully tumble down the stairs. At the top of them stood a cloaked figure. The man's face was covered by a hood. His cloak was black with red trimming. His right arm was slightly outstretched, and it was covered with a black glove and sleeve. Darkness seemed to be rising from his hand, indicating that he had used it to attack the poor Nobody.

"Who the HELL are you?" the guard demanded from the person, both of his guns pointed at the man.

The person simply ignored the guard. The darkness rising from his hand formed into a nasty looking sword. With a leap from the top of the stairs, the man charged straight to the downed Nobody with the obvious intent to kill.

Fortunately, Sam was able to teleport out of the way and was suddenly several feet away from her former location. The tip of the man's sword was embedded a couple of inches into the concrete, with cracks in the ground emanating from the breach.

With ease, the man yanked the sword out of the ground and continued his assault. Sam was just barely able to summon _Veritas_ to block the attack.

Xehanort and Eraqus quickly rushed to the woman's aid. Terra and the guard made an attempt to assist, but Vanitas cut them off, and forced the two of them to fight him.

As Sam continued fighting the man, she couldn't help but feel a sense of déjà vu. The man's fighting style was eerily familiar.

"Identify yourself!" Sam demanded with all the authority of the general she once was. While she was originally a Guild Lord, her ability to command and the ideals she supported resulted in her becoming the Commander of the United Army of the Five Races of Tyria. Many people were loyal to her, and because of the number of battles she won, few questioned her judgment. Absolutely no one challenged her authority…

…except for one.

The man chuckled in response as the two of them jumped backwards, unlocking their swords. The two masters had him surrounded from behind, blocking any chance of escape.

"You mean to say that after all of these years you don't recognize me? I'm hurt Samantha, I thought you would remember," the man said in a deep voice that Sam recognized almost immediately.

'_Is it…no, it can't be him. I saw him DIE!'_

A hand reached up to pull back the hood covering him. When it fell back to reveal the person beneath it, Sam felt all color drain from her face.

Shoulder length grayish whitish hair framed a wrinkled face with sharp features, with a small lock of hair over the left eye. The man was a head taller than the Nobody, and even though he was in his 80's, he was still a formidable fighter. The only thing that had changed were his eyes, which used to be grey. Now they were an ugly yellow.

…he fell into darkness.

"…Radiel…" her voice barely a whisper yet it sounded so loud.

The man merely smirked at the woman in front of him, forgetting about everything else surrounding the two of them. As far as he was concerned, she was the only other person there, and he wanted her dead. With that in mind, he charged at her with the intent to kill, showing no mercy.

A/N: Sam's mini rant when introducing herself to Even and Dilan was inspired by Doctor Who. I was talking about the show with a friend while writing it. Also the italic font in that paragraph represents Sam mumbling to herself.

The artwork for Radiel's sword can be found on DA: http:/magesterludi. deviantart com/ art / Radiel-s-Heartless-Sword-215181327? q=gallery%3Amagesterludi%2F29820848&qo=0


	11. Fan Fic News

I'm sad to report that my fic will end up on a long hiatus and may not be finished at all. I don't know when and if I'll ever get around to it, but I hope I may be able to pic it up again. There are two reasons for this hiatus:

1. Thanks to classes and hw, I really don't have as much time as I would like to work on it.

2. I almost have 0 inspiration for this fic even though I know where I want the story to go.

Again, I don't know if and when I'll resume writing it, but there wont be any new updates for quite some time.


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